Sunday, May 02, 2010

Featured speakers at the Jackson GOP Candidate Forum on May 6th will be 1st District Congressional candidates Will Johnson, Mike LaCoste and Ben Lange, plus State Senate candidate Andrew Naeve and County Supervisor candidate Jack Willey. The Thursday evening event will start with a buffet dinner from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Clinton Engines Museum Program Center, 605 E. Maple St., in Maquoketa. The Candidate Forum begins at 7 p.m., followed by a question and answer period.

Johnson grew up in Dubuque, where he attended Senior High School and Loras College. In 2001 he joined the Navy, attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, and served as a CTI (Hebrew linguist) until 2005. He enrolled at Loras College in 2006 and majored in International Studies. In early 2008 he traveled to China, where he studied written and spoken Chinese for more than a year.

He is an avid Tae Kwon Do practitioner and instructor, and is also a musician.

LaCoste was raised on a northeast Iowa farm and worked at John Deere in Waterloo for 36 years before retiring from his job as a Quality Inspector. He attended the University of Northern Iowa and Hawkeye Community College in Cedar Falls, as well as several John Deere educational programs. He has coached in the Waterloo area for 13 years.

He and his wife, Peggy, have been married for 33 years and have two grown sons, Sean and Shane.

Lange grew up in Quasqueton, the son of a meat plant worker. He earned his B.A. in political science from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and earned his law degree from Hamline University Law School in St. Paul, MN. While attending Hamline, he was a policy advisor to U.S. Congressman John Kline, a Minnesota conservative.

He and his wife, Kelly, have two toddler daughters—Addison and Emelia. He owns a small business in Independence.

Naeve, 25, is a sixth generation family farmer and business owner from the Andover area. He graduated from East Central High School in 2003, where he now serves as an elected school board member and as Varsity Boys Basketball Coach. He graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 2007 with a degree in farm business management and finance.

Naeve is engaged to Kristin Conway; they will be married in August.

Supervisor Jack Willey of Maquoketa has been a Jackson County Supervisor for 20 years. Willey is a member of several boards and committees, including the State Committee on Mental Health, the County Case Management Advisory Board, and the Empowerment Board.

He and his wife, Marilyn, own Jack and Associates in downtown Maquoketa. They have three children and nine grandchildren.

Tickets are available at the door for the event—cost is $10 for adults, with family members under 18 admitted free (admission to museum is separate).

Thursday, March 18, 2010

CLINTON –Andrew Naeve, a sixth generation family farmer from Clinton, filed his nomination papers and statement of candidacy with the Iowa Secretary of State to run for the Iowa Senate. Naeve is running for Senate District 13, which includes all of Jackson County, the northern portion of Clinton County including the City of Clinton and the southeast tip of Dubuque County.

A lifelong Iowan raised on a family farm, Naeve, 25, graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, with a degree in Farm Business Management and Finance. Upon graduation, Naeve returned to Iowa to join his father and grandfather on the family’s corn, soybean and cattle farm in Clinton County. In 2008, Naeve was elected to serve on the East Central Community School District Board of Education. A high school and college basketball standout, Naeve also serves as the head boys basketball coach at East Central High School.

As a recent college graduate who returned home to Iowa to pursue his career, Naeve is running for the Iowa Senate because he wants to see his generation and future generations be afforded the chance to stay in Iowa or come to Iowa to obtain a good job and raise their families in safe communities and good schools.

“I came back home to Iowa because I believe in Iowa and the opportunities and values that thrive here,” said Naeve. “I am running because I want to focus on finding new ways to create private sector jobs so we can grow our state again. I want my generation and future generations of Iowans to be able to pursue their dreams in Iowa, find a rewarding career and raise their family,” he continued.

Besides focusing on job creation and educational excellence, Naeve says he wants to get Iowa’s budget back in line with revenues after three years of overspending and fiscal mismanagement created record deficits that have lead to increased property taxes. As a family farmer, Naeve understands the burdens placed on small businesses by excessive government and says his optimistic message of job creation, property tax relief, responsible budgeting and education excellence is what is needed to move Iowa forward.

“Like most Iowans, I am upset with the unsustainable levels of spending that has lead to record deficits, the continued increases in taxes and the budgets that are produced in Des Moines that do not reflect the true priorities and values of Iowans. As a local education leader and school board member, I have seen first hand how the decisions in Des Moines affect our schools and harm our property taxpayers,” said Naeve. “As your senator, I will only vote for responsible and fiscally sustainable budgets that reflects your priorities, keeps our taxes low and encourages job creation.”

Naeve is engaged to Kristin Conway. In addition to his work on his family farm, the East Central School Community School Board and East Central High School boys basketball coach, Naeve is a member of the Faith Lutheran Church in Andover.

“I want to be a champion for agriculture and be part of the solution that brings and keeps younger Iowans here to find a good job and raise their family. My focus will be on fiscal responsibility, job creation and working to protect the property taxpayer,” said Naeve. “I look forward to working hard to bring my optimistic message and grassroots campaign to every voter in the district as we all work together to bring about a new direction for Iowa and a brighter future for our children and grandchildren and the generations of Iowans yet to come.”